Before I begin my New Year, I want to thank every one of you who has played a positive role in the years gone by through Comfort My People. This is God’s doing but you joined in because of His compelling love as did Marla and I at the beginning. This is according to His eternal purpose, which is cause to celebrate.
However, at the dawn of the last quarter of 2023, life on planet Earth seemed to mutate into another solar system. I sensed a thick blanket of pure darkness descending upon the globe. The questions of why and how this happened would go unanswered so they were not even asked. Israel became a land of mourning and despair as she sent her children off to war in her neighbor’s yard.
For what seemed like a moment, she felt the world’s empathy. Yet it began to fade steadily in a few days and is now almost entirely gone.
For Israelis, there was little time to grieve as the survival of a people long hated became at risk as never before. Comparisons to the Nazis began to swirl, but the blame shifted rapidly from Hamas to the “evil Israeli oppressors” getting what they deserved. Hatred for the Jews became fashionable in universities, cities, and towns throughout our nation and the world. But the sun continued to rise and set on schedule and things returned to normal for most.
Not for Israel, and not for us.
Thankfully neither is it for you.
Yes, Israel is at war. The small nation is living on the edge of uncertainty knowing that Hamas is not her only enemy. Like Hamas, the PLO has written into its charter that Israel cannot exist as a Jewish state. The hundreds of thousands of protestors around the world raise their fists and chant in full agreement. While we returned to our Fall celebration of feasting, football, and Christmas pageants, Israel’s seas were filled with warships, her economy had sunk, and supplies were limited. From several angles, it looks like Israel is finished, but is it?
It is a chilling thought, but the answer is no. The only reason it isn’t is because of the word of promise in the word of God.
Thus says the LORD,
Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
“If those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the LORD,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.” Jer 31:35,36
Does this mean that Israel should stop fighting?
It cannot.
Does it mean that the church can stop praying? It should not.
There is a finish line.
The apostle Paul reached it in his day. God singled out this Jewish follower of Jesus to deliver the gospel of the Jewish Messiah to the Gentile world~and he did. That is why you can read this, and the Bible from which it came.
It is also true that this same gospel has finally returned to the Land of its origin. That is because our partners in Israel are doing everything they can to minister to soldiers, displaced families, Holocaust survivors, and mothers whose sons, daughters, and fathers went off to battle.
Our believing partners fill cars and vans with essential supplies, hot meals, encouraging words, and Bibles. They are often asked why they do this by those on the receiving end. They tell them,
“It is because of Yeshua’s love and His followers’ generosity–Christians in America. “ That initiates a visible–and sometimes–cataclysmic shift in their perception!
Because of that, we are grateful and thank you for being faithful to carry the message of Yeshua to the finish line with us. We are at the beginning of something historic. A door has opened that no man, nor demonic entity can shut.
May this New Year fill your home with peace and provision,
Shalom,
Paul
**If ever there was a time to “Comfort My People,” it is now.
For when God’s promises are completed, all Israel will be saved and Jesus will proclaim one last time,
“It is finished!”
